Glossary of key climate change terms

1. Adaptation: The change of our behaviour to respond to the impacts of

climate change.
2. Afforestation: Growing forests to remove greenhouse gases from the
atmosphere.
3.

Carbon Dioxide Equivalent: A metric measure used to compare the

emissions from various greenhouse gases based upon their global
warming potential (GWP).

4. Carbon sink: Repository for carbon dioxide (CO2) removed from the
atmosphere. Oceans appear to be major sinks for storage of atmospheric
CO2.
5. Carbon tax: A policy that would tax fossil fuels according to the amount
of carbon they contained. This would reduce the demand for fossil fuels.
6. Clean Development Mechanism: A mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol
for reducing emissions through implementing projects in developing
countries.
7. A climate change scenario: A description of a possible future climate
based on assumptions of how the earth's climate operates, future world
population levels, economic activity and greenhouse gas emissions.
8. Deforestation: Cutting down forests; one of the causes of the enhanced
greenhouse effect.
9. Emissions Trading (Cap and Trade): A market mechanism that allows
emitters (countries or companies) to buy emissions from or sell emissions
to other emitters.
10. Emissions Factor: A unique value for scaling emissions to activity data
in terms of a standard rate of emissions per unit of activity (e.g., grams of
carbon dioxide emitted per barrel of fossil fuel consumed).
11. Eutrophication: The occurrence of high nutrient levels in freshwater and
marine ecosystems, usually resulting in excessive plant growth and the
death of animal and some plant life due to oxygen deprivation.
12. Global warming: The idea that increased greenhouse gases cause the
Earths temperature to rise globally.

13. Global Warming Potential: A measure of the total energy that a gas
absorbs over a particular period of time (usually 100 years), compared to
carbon dioxide.
14. Greenhouse effect: The cause of global warming.
15. Greenhouse gases: Molecules in the Earths atmosphere such a carbon
dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and CFCs which warm the atmosphere.
16. Inundation: The submergence of land by water, particularly in a coastal
setting.
17. IPCC: Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change formed by the
World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988.
18. Landfill: Land waste disposal site in which waste is generally spread in

thin layers, compacted, and covered with a fresh layer of soil each day.
19. Mitigation: Practices that reduce the probability of climate change by
reducing atmospheric concentrations of GHG.
20. Renewable energy: Energy sources which are not depleted by use, for
example, hydro-power and wind power.
21. Reforestation: The restocking of existing forests and woodlands that
have been depleted through human activities or natural causes.
22. Salt Water Intrusion: Displacement of fresh or ground water by the
advance of salt water due to its greater density, usually in coastal and
estuarine areas.
23. Technology transfer: The process by which energy-efficient or low
emission intensive technologies developed by industrialised nations are
made available to less industrialised nations.
24. UNFCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change): An international environmental treaty produced at the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED),
informally known as the Earth Summit, held in 1992.
25. Vulnerability: The degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable
to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate
variability and extremes.
For example, the release of one kilogram (kg) of methane would result in an effect similar to 25 kg of carbon dioxide
over a 100 period; the GWP for methane is thus 25 over 100 years. The GWPof nitrous oxide (NOz) is 298 over 100 y